Best Western Imperial Hotel Fort William

... The Nevis ranges comprises of three peaks - and apparently more people die trying to climb Ben Nevis than on the roads of Scotland due to poor preparation and the rapidly changing weather. Where we stopped is a monument to those who have died protecting the country, and as we were taking photos a platoon of army boys came jogging past. Evidently the ranges is a popular training ground - they have to run up to 10 miles with 30 pound backpacks on their backs! <br><br>Next we ...

... each year. The person who runs up it, back down and to the bar in the pub is the winner. Apparently it has been done in 45 minutes before! It harks back to the war, when a Scottish soldier was fighing with a man of Nepalese descent. The Scot told the Nepalese man if they got out of the war, they would go to Scotland and live in peace. So the war ended and they went back to the highlands. One day they were sitting at the pub, 5 drinks into a session when the Scot said 'so what do you ...

... is sadly known for being voted the city with the ugliest people in Scotland! Not the best of awards to win. Had a quick look around and Josh even managed to squeeze in a quick haircut! <br><br>Then to the local distillery, a quick tour and some samples - i had a quick taste, but i'm truly not a whiskey person - josh said the Penderyn one in Wales was better. <br><br>Onwards to Loch Ness which is the best known of the 4 Lochs in the Scottish Highlands ...

... is that our tour guide Ross didn't wear his kilt today I was going to get a shot with him in front of this castle but he wouldn't put his kilt back on.. I think its because I called it a skirt at one stage of the first day!! Woops..<br><br>We stopped at Fort Augustus for lunch, one of the cities on Loch Ness. Unfortunately Nessie didn't show himself when we were there.. ah well thats twice I've missed ...

... night tonight! <br><br>Tyndrum is disappointingly a glorified layby but the hostel is lovely with plenty of space, a great drying room and I'm looking forward to my day off!<br><br>Things that made me smile today:<br><br>The sun coming out at Loch Tulla<br>The gate with the "Please Close the Gate" sign. It was stood all alone with no supporting fence, hedge or wall for miles!<br>Getting to Tyndrum - I was pretty tired after 64 miles in three days!<br>

The final stage of the Great Glen Way runs down Loch Lochy and back onto the Caledonian Canal all the way to Fort William and Loch Linnhe. The Caledonian Canal is another feat of 19th century engineering, where rather than use specialist "navvies", the local Highlanders were pressed into service in between their ordinary droving and crofting activities. <br><br>It ...

... lunch all day! <br><br>The flautists are hard to miss and I stop by to say hello and sponsor them. They play me "The Happy Wanderer" and wish me well on my travels! <br><br>The rest of the afternoon is spent in glorious sunshine and I enjoy the Highlands at their autumnal best. There is also another abundance of blackberries, which no-one seems to pick (I thought Scots were ...

... a photo I took of Kilchurn Castle on Lock Awe that left me spellbound - the castle, water and mountains just leave you transfixed. <br><br>Oban was beautful in its own right nestled into a harbour and the next day we caught a ferry to the Isle of Mull where we caught a small gauge rail to an old castle. <br><br>Sue<br><br>Getting out of Edinburgh was interesting. We found to our horror that the ...

... check out McCaig's Tower. It is a victorian replica of the Colisseum. Weird, I know. But it was a good hike uphill and gave us a beautiful view of the water below (Oban is a big ferry stopping point to the smaller islands like The Island of Mull where the puffins live!). <br>And that was our day in a nutshell! We are off to Speyside/Dufftown tomorrow for some whisky! <br>

... summoned me in and he looked closely into my eyes with his strange Dr Who-like microscopic machine and came to much the same conclusion about my retinal membrane except that he defined the problem as either a cyst or a lesion. It is relatively serious should it get worse. He recommended that I go to Glasgow for further tests within the next few days and should those tests prove positive, ie that there was a serious problem, I would ...